But seriously, now that all of you enlightened and discriminating buyers are herein this one time only exclusive thread, boy do I have a deal for you! My contact in the Middle East has run out of garage space! He needs to rid himself of this F50 to make room for his new Veyron!

But seriously, now that all of you enlightened and discriminating buyers are herein this one time only exclusive thread, boy do I have a deal for you! My contact in the Middle East has run out of garage space! He needs to rid himself of this F50 to make room for his new Veyron!

I don't know about Boca Raton, but in Orlando a lot of merchants at the malls cater to Brazilian visitors who can obtain foreign made goods much cheaper in the States than they can in Brazil, where the tariffs are very high. I've even seen a Brazilian tourist group at a Target.

But seriously, now that all of you enlightened and discriminating buyers are herein this one time only exclusive thread, boy do I have a deal for you! My contact in the Middle East has run out of garage space! He needs to rid himself of this F50 to make room for his new Veyron!

But seriously, now that all of you enlightened and discriminating buyers are herein this one time only exclusive thread, boy do I have a deal for you! My contact in the Middle East has run out of garage space! He needs to rid himself of this F50 to make room for his new Veyron!

So she'll probably end up being punished more than George Zimmerman, and she did nothing different than people sharing files over the internet. After all, the people buying this crap knew it was fake and weren't going to (or weren't able to) buy the real thing, so it's not like Cartier lost a sale.

"Cartier representatives told police they also had been able to buy a similar bracelet a week earlier for $84. The bracelet normally retails for $6,850."

Sounds to me like who ever bought the knockoff was the smart one, they saved $6,766. It's probably not obvious to anyone who sees you wearing it whether was the real deal or not, therefore the aim of being a pretentious twit was served at a lesser price.

Yet when some jerk in Oregon decides to draw a picture of Link or MLP or The Doctor with a clever slogan or some other DeviantArt bullshiat twist, and puts it on a t-shirt on some for-profit site? You're all over that and support the IP thief.

SevenizGud:Necklaces and bracelets are a stupidity tax. You got taxed however much you paid, since the actual value of the items, where bona fide designer products or not, is zero.

Please be less stupid.

Designer jewellery is usually of even less value than any other sort due to essentially paying a premium for the brand. But it's not that different to paying extra for Nike shoes over some other low profile brand. People use it for one reason only, to show off the fact that they identify with a certain group as promoted by the advertising campaign. They want to think they are in the "in" group. People who don't follow the advertising wouldn't even notice what brand someone was wearing, let alone care.

Nidiot:Designer jewellery is usually of even less value than any other sort due to essentially paying a premium for the brand. But it's not that different to paying extra for Nike shoes over some other low profile brand. People use it for one reason only, to show off the fact that they identify with a certain group as promoted by the advertising campaign. They want to think they are in the "in" group. People who don't follow the advertising wouldn't even notice what brand someone was wearing, let alone care.

Not quite. The shoes might at least have some utilitarian value to them; the jewelry has none whatsoever. There's also a vastly, vastly lower markup for the brandname.

/don't wear Nike's myself because I found them not to last very long//do wear a name brand, although I do so because I find them significantly more comfortable than no-name shoes, and my experience is that they last more than long enough after the others have fallen to pieces to make up the slight cost difference.

gweilo8888:Nidiot: Designer jewellery is usually of even less value than any other sort due to essentially paying a premium for the brand. But it's not that different to paying extra for Nike shoes over some other low profile brand. People use it for one reason only, to show off the fact that they identify with a certain group as promoted by the advertising campaign. They want to think they are in the "in" group. People who don't follow the advertising wouldn't even notice what brand someone was wearing, let alone care.

Not quite. The shoes might at least have some utilitarian value to them; the jewelry has none whatsoever. There's also a vastly, vastly lower markup for the brandname.

/don't wear Nike's myself because I found them not to last very long//do wear a name brand, although I do so because I find them significantly more comfortable than no-name shoes, and my experience is that they last more than long enough after the others have fallen to pieces to make up the slight cost difference.

Which actually proves my point. A 'name' brand might be better quality, or it might not, you have to check that out for yourself. Having the name does not guarantee it is a superior product.

As for utilitarian value of jewellery, it's a status thing, and the fact that it has no function is pretty much the whole point. It's purpose is to say: look I am worth wearing something expensive that serves no purpose other than to look pretty. I have something you don't. I am better than you because I can afford to spend money on something other than the utilitarian. Or, I have someone who both loves me enough and has enough money to buy me things that are not utilitarian.

Beats me why the designer brand stuff is worth so much in the first place. Yeah I'm sure it's better quality than the knockoff stuff, but you can get some very good quality stuff that isn't designer brands for a lot less. If your goal is just to show off how much money you have, just get the knockoff. Sometimes they have to have experts appraise and authenticate that stuff so the knockoffs must be pretty good on occasion.

But seriously, now that all of you enlightened and discriminating buyers are herein this one time only exclusive thread, boy do I have a deal for you! My contact in the Middle East has run out of garage space! He needs to rid himself of this F50 to make room for his new Veyron!

Nidiot:gweilo8888: Nidiot: Designer jewellery is usually of even less value than any other sort due to essentially paying a premium for the brand. But it's not that different to paying extra for Nike shoes over some other low profile brand. People use it for one reason only, to show off the fact that they identify with a certain group as promoted by the advertising campaign. They want to think they are in the "in" group. People who don't follow the advertising wouldn't even notice what brand someone was wearing, let alone care.

Not quite. The shoes might at least have some utilitarian value to them; the jewelry has none whatsoever. There's also a vastly, vastly lower markup for the brandname.

/don't wear Nike's myself because I found them not to last very long//do wear a name brand, although I do so because I find them significantly more comfortable than no-name shoes, and my experience is that they last more than long enough after the others have fallen to pieces to make up the slight cost difference.

Which actually proves my point. A 'name' brand might be better quality, or it might not, you have to check that out for yourself. Having the name does not guarantee it is a superior product.

As for utilitarian value of jewellery, it's a status thing, and the fact that it has no function is pretty much the whole point. It's purpose is to say: look I am worth wearing something expensive that serves no purpose other than to look pretty. I have something you don't. I am better than you because I can afford to spend money on something other than the utilitarian. Or, I have someone who both loves me enough and has enough money to buy me things that are not utilitarian.

Or, I have mortgaged my house, my life, my children's futures; I fark someone who disgusts me; I commit larceny, fraud, embezzlement - all so I can have a bigger, better, flashier car/boat/ring/bauble than you. Are you not impressed?

James10952001:Beats me why the designer brand stuff is worth so much in the first place. Yeah I'm sure it's better quality than the knockoff stuff, but you can get some very good quality stuff that isn't designer brands for a lot less. If your goal is just to show off how much money you have, just get the knockoff. Sometimes they have to have experts appraise and authenticate that stuff so the knockoffs must be pretty good on occasion.

It goes way beyond that. I had the local T&Co store ship an 1880s Tiffany & Co. Silver tea service to the NY store for R&R.

I got it back in three weeks shined, authenticated on T Co. letterhead, ivory roundels replaced, dents removed and ready to use for almost no charge

Which non-designer outfit is going to be around in another 130 years much less interested in backing their product?

BTW...Cartier told me to take a flying fark when I brought some old Cartier silver into their store.

Nix Nightbird:Yet when some jerk in Oregon decides to draw a picture of Link or MLP or The Doctor with a clever slogan or some other DeviantArt bullshiat twist, and puts it on a t-shirt on some for-profit site? You're all over that and support the IP thief.

It depends. If you mean a one/few-off commissioned piece, w/e. No one cares. If you mean setting up a storefront, fark that. I laughed at all the butthurt when that place making "hug pillows" got C&D-ed by Hasbro. And laughed even harder at the artists biatching about it.

Of course, I've also been known to make a distinction between low-volume, customized stuff and commercial store-fronts. So there's that.